And here I am in the local paper! (again)

Well, you can read the whole article here,  but here are the parts that quote me:

"Rabbi Michael Unterberg, the Jewish history department chair at Fuchs Mizrachi School, met with Kepley and the cast to serve as an expert and tutor in all things Judaic.

Unterberg’s discussions with the cast ranged from the practical – how to wear tzitzit and what it feels like to “shuckle” while praying – to the spiritual. The cast and Unterberg had in-depth discussions on the influence of Jewish mysticism on Chasidism and how those beliefs amplify Asher’s parents’ pain at his leaving the fold.

Unterberg also raised the issue of “tensions with Christianity in the shadow of the Holocaust,” he says. He felt it was essential for the actors “to understand how a Jewish parent would view a cross or crucifix, the pain, what that symbolism would mean to Eastern European immigrants.”

The experience of working on the production “was really enriching for me,” he adds, noting the actors craved knowledge of details about Chasidic life that didn’t directly figure into the script just so they would have a fuller sense of who their characters are.

“It’s interesting to see how actors study,” Unterberg says. “Chasidim have this view that every life is a spark. Actors share that value – appreciating other cultures. It was cool.”

Kepley looks forward to “Asher Lev’s” three high-school student matinee performances. While the majority of schools attending these shows are religious schools, there’s only one Jewish school among them: Unterberg is bringing a group of 90 teens from Fuchs Mizrachi. Kepley’s past experiences with student matinees leads her to anticipate “great discussions afterwards” with teen audiences of different faiths.

Unterberg says he almost balked at bringing his students to the “Asher Lev” matinee, as the regular evening productions will contain nudity. The student matinees, he was quickly assured, would not.

“For me and my school, we’d have been in the same position as Asher” had the matinees contained nudity, Unterberg observes. “We want to experience culture, but we also want to uphold Modern Orthodox traditions.”

When you search for my name on the Cleveland Jewish News website, you get several other article about or mentioning me. Below are most of the results. You can click to see those articles too. 

Not so bad for some kid from Brooklyn, I guess.

Death of a 'dream'
Cleveland resident mourns, celebrates life of aunt killed in terrorist attack in Efrat. By DOUGLAS J. GUTH Staff Reporter Rabbi Michael Unterberg says he was stunned as he looked out at the ocean of mourners who came to his Aunt Sara's funeral in t...
 4.2K - Jun. 7, 2001; scored 1000.0

Exploring the world of Asher Lev
A bearded man in tzitzit (ritual fringes) sits hunched on a wooden bench. He snaps into a memory of his childhood and becomes an insecure 10-year-old boy. He begs his father to cancel their planned move to Vienna, to let him stay in New York. If forc...
 6.9K - Mar. 4, 2011; scored 898.0

Guide takes a new view of gay, Orthodox Jewish life
Written as a careful balance of ancient Jewish law and modern ideals of human compassion, a code of conduct on the Orthodox community s treatment of homosexuality was released online this summer, complete with signatures from over 170 Modern Orthodox...
 5.3K - Oct. 1, 2010; scored 855.0

Tubbs Jones was a friend to Jews,’ say local leaders
As the Ohio and Washington, D.C. political worlds mourn the death of U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, local Jewish leaders recall the woman whose charisma and willingness to listen ultimately made her the correct choice to represent a district with, ...
 7.8K - Aug. 28, 2008; scored 539.0

Tackling modern Israel in area jewish schools
Cleveland day and religious schools work to bring modern Israel into the classroom. With Israel front and center in the news almost every day, many Jewish families are calling for a more concerted effort from educators to teach children about modern ...
 5.3K - Sep. 1, 2005; scored 539.0

Something rotten’ in the Tony Brown review of Hamlet’
First, a quiz: Read the paragraphs and answer the multiple choice question that follows: “A friend, an Israeli Jew from Jerusalem whose father survived the concentration camps to settle in the promised land on the promise it was empty, comp...
 6.0K - Jun. 12, 2008; scored 425.0

Jewish day schools address current Israeli crisis
As the intifada enters its 19th month and an Israel virtually at war dominates the headlines, Yom Hazikaron(Israel Memorial Day) and Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) take on special poignancy this year. As part of the double commemoration on...
 8.0K - Apr. 11, 2002; scored 425.0

A 2006 trip that began in 1942
My summer vacation began this year on July 23, when my mother Bertha Lautman, the 48th Jewish prisoner interned in Auschwitz, and Rabbi Michael Unterberg traveled with me and my mother from Cleveland to Slovakia. (Rabbi Unterberg is planning to make ...
 5.4K - Nov. 23, 2006; scored 425.0

Defending Israel on campus goal of high-school program
Perhaps the most dangerous place to be a Zionist is on today’s American college campuses. From coast to coast, left-wing politics and the Palestinian cause have joined forces, notes Middle East analyst Mark Silverberg. Supporting the Palest...
 5.6K - May. 8, 2008; scored 425.0

Mizrachi on Israel
I appreciated Michael Goroff's cover story Tackling Modern Israel in area Jewish schools (CJN, Sept. 2). However, I would like to round out the picture of Israel education at Fuchs Mizrachi School. Religious Zionism is our raison d�...
 1.2K - Sep. 15, 2005; scored 269.0

Heartfelt Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration
Fuchs Mizrachi School celebrated Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) in a room overflowing with more than 500 Clevelanders, as well as visitors from Detroit. The experience was extraordinarily heartfelt, and the connection between the s...
 1.1K - May. 19, 2005; scored 269.0

GOLDSTEIN-POMERANTZ
Devorah Pomerantz and Zachery Goldstein were married recently at the La Malfa Party Center. Rabbi Michael Unterberg of Cleveland and Rabbi Alan Berkowitz of New York officiated. Mrs. Goldstein, daughter of Lawrence and Phylis Pomerantz of University ...
 0.6K - Mar. 18, 2002; scored 269.0

Write On trip to Israel trains new advocates
Many trips promise The Real Israel. But the Israelis who met the teen advocacy group Write On for Israel, co-sponsored by The AVI CHAI Foundation and the Cleveland Jewish News, really delivered. On a recent 10-day Israel trip, a component of the Wr...
 7.9K - Jul. 3, 2009; scored 269.0

Defending Israel on campus 101: Pro-Israel group starts at OSU and other schools
When Lisette Dolgin was a college student and Hillel officer at Loyola University Chicago in 2005, she wasn’t a well-educated Zionist. This despite the fact that Dolgin is a grandchild of one Holocaust survivor and one Israeli-born vetera...
 4.5K - Oct. 10, 2008; scored 269.0

Never again or enough?
We had our first Yom Hashoah commemoration at Wiggins Place. We are Jewish seniors of the same generation but with different backgrounds and denominations. The majority were born in America and raised children who had grandparents, aunts and uncles i...
 1.4K - May. 4, 2007; scored 269.0

Our Brush with Greatness 1.5

What? You don't listen to the Judge John Hodgman podcast? Well then not only are you missing out on a really fun and clever comedian at work, but you will also miss the Unterberg episode.

Yeah, that's right. Minor television celebrity and former computer pitchman John Hodgman has agreed to help me and Avigayil resolve a long running dispute. And then publish the whole conversation on the internet. And so once again, the Unterbergs will have a brush with fame!

I'll make sure to post it here when it airs. (or casts... or pods... or whatever) In the meantime, I'll whet your appetite with the letter that Avigayil sent the show. The show's producer called us today, and told us that we can present our case before the judge over the next two weeks.

Here's the application she sent:

Argument: between a father (Michael) and daughter (Avigayil): Should a father have the right to force his daughter to watch a classic movie, that even if she does not like it, it does have merit and should be seen. It should be noted, that there are good odds that she will like it.

Daughter: Plaintiff: Avigayil: I am an eleventh grader in high school and I think that my father should not be allowed to dictate what movies I must watch. I give him the full right to forbid me from watching movies, and even to suggest movies that he thinks I might like. But for him to ask me to stay home on a saturday night to watch a movie that I do not want to watch, instead of going out with friends or doing homework, it taking it too far.

PS My father would like for bailiff Jesse to stop using the word “myself” incorrectly (i.e. “the show is produced by myself”)

PPS Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, my father gave me permission send this email

Evidence:

examples of movies I have been forced to watch and did not like:

The Magnificent Seven

The African Queen

examples of movies that I have been forced to watch and did like:

The Untouchables

Duck Soup (Marx Brothers)

examples of movies I have yet to watch that are being saved on Tivo:

Boys From Brazil

A Few Good Men

Predator

Are these two videos complementary?

What do you think?

(kudos to 10th grader Eli Diamond for the suggestion)






I also touched on the topic of school conformity in a previous post, but these short presentations are suggesting new models of thinking. Their creativity beats my kvetching hands down.

Too cool for school.

Darwin defended...

Well, I think that went well. We had almost 100 people representing various parts of the Jewish community. People seemed interested, and more importantly were pleased that we were presenting a Torah U'Madda perspective in Cleveland.

Anyway, several people requested the recording. So below are the "powerpoint", (you may have to give it a couple of minutes to load)  source sheet and audio recording. (click on the blue text to download the file)

I hope you enjoy.

Defending Darwin

Learning from Asher Lev

Or: A pretendin' febrengin

I’m not a good self promoter, but Hashem looks out for me. I’ve been really fortunate to come by cool jobs just by knowing nice people who recommend me. When the Cleveland Playhouse was looking for a Rabbinic consultant for their production of “My Name is Asher Lev”, the trail of their search eventually led to me. Man, am I lucky. Its been a blast. So far I’ve met with the director once, and then had two meetings with her and her cast. 

I always enjoy getting a look behind the scenes at how things work. (for example I’ve taken opportunities to do so in the NYPD and the IDF, but much less literally) What I didn’t realize was how fascinating it would be to get to know these artists. I found that they have a crucial element in common with the Hasidim that they will be playing. 

I was amazed by their pure curiosity. The questions that they had about Judaism in general and Hasidut in particular were certainly designed to better inform their performances. But it went beyond that. They were clearly deeply curious about other people and how they think, feel and live. I suppose that one of the joys of their craft is inhabiting those personas and seeing through the eyes of the other. I was amazed at how fascinated they are by Jewish ideas and practices beyond those that directly relate to this particular play. 

What really stands out is their menschluchkeit. They are, if anything, too concerned about treating Jews and Judaism with respect and dignity. I keep having to reassure them that their performance won’t offend or raise the ire Jews in the audience. (in some parts of the community it might, but that isn’t a problem that can’t be resolved. Luckily, I doubt that those who would be offended will see the play)

These qualities, deep curiosity, love, and respect for other individuals is also very Hassidic in nature. A nice formulation of this value appears in another Potok novel, “The Chosen”, through the voice of Rabbi Saunders. He says, “A man is born into this world with only a tiny spark of goodness in him. The spark is God, it is the soul… The spark must be guarded like a treasure, it must be nurtured, it must be fanned into flame. It must learn to seek out other sparks...” (emphasis mine)

I have found it fascinating that the cast and crew of this play share this approach to life. Although they come to it from a culture very different from Hasidut, it has elevated my soul to find itself at this point of commonality. 

Boy, I can’t wait to see the play! 

Postscript: The play was great. I had the honor of participating in a "Talkback" discussion after a performance, and also led a Pre-Show Talk before another performance.
The Talkback was at the performance we took my whole high school to. They had a great time, and it was a real group culture bonding experience. They still do impressions of the cast, and loved it when an audience member asked me in front of hundreds of people, "So what do you Jews think about Jesus, anyway?"
Also, the director, Laura Kepley, posted the following on the Cleveland Playhouse blog:


And most invaluably, this production is very fortunate to have Rabbi Michael Unterberg, a graduate of Yeshiva University and a teacher at Fuchs Mizrachi School, serving as a consultant illuminating and contextualizing the Hasidic worldview for us. Each day of rehearsals brings more questions, such as “What does the bringing the moshiach into the world mean for these characters?”, “What would the image of a crucifixion mean to a Russian Jew?”, “What exactly is the afternoon prayer?”, and “How do my tzitzit show if I tuck in my shirt?” From the mystical to the mundane, Michael patiently answers our daily “Ask the Rabbi” emails, and comes into rehearsals to watch our work. 


Seriously, how lovely is she? Also, here are some pictures: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clevelandplayhouse.com%2Fmain-stage%2Fmy-name-is-asher-lev&h=2a329